Fiat "Two Of A Kind Project" Asks Royal College Of Art
Students To Imagine Fiat Icons Of The Future

SLOUGH, UNITED KINGDOM – Oct 4, 2013: FIAT is challenging Vehicle
Design students at the prestigious Royal College of Art (RCA) in London to
explore how FIAT’s most iconic models might look in the future, via a
new initiative entitled “Two of a Kind”.

The “Two of a Kind” project focusses on the two models that
best characterise the FIAT ethos of making cool cars - infused with Italian
effervescence - for real people: The iconic, stylish and much-loved FIAT
500 and the distinctive, charming and practical FIAT Panda - very different
vehicles but both quintessentially FIAT. “Two of a Kind”, you
might say.

Placing FIAT’s brand identity at the centre and using its design
language as a starting point, fourteen teams of four students will be
challenged to develop concepts that explore innovative ‘outside the
box’ ideas while taking interactivity, digital interface,
sustainability and global appeal in account.

To assist the Master’s students, a series of live lectures are
planned at the RCA by FIAT-Chrysler’s top designers, including Head
of Design (EMEA region) Roberto Giolito and Head of Global Design Lorenzo
Ramaciotti, with the first lecture having taken place yesterday (October
2nd) at the Royal College of Art.

FIAT will deliver six RCA lectures in total, with each lecture focussing
on a different theme. The final portion of each lecture will see the
students share and receive feedback on the status of their ‘Two of a
kind’ project. The series culminates on December 11th 2013 with final
student presentations, with the winning projects to be judged by senior
FIAT designer heads, RCA department heads and FIAT UK’s Managing
Director, Steve Zanlunghi.

In early 2014, the winning students will then take their final designs
to the FIAT Centro Stile (Styling Centre) in Turin where they will meet
with the model makers to brief them on how best to turn these designs into
clay models. These models will then be prepared and unveiled at the
students’ RCA degree show in June 2014. In addition, these students
will also be offered internships at FIAT’s Centro Stile between July
2014 and February 2015.

Commenting on the project, Mr Zanlunghi explained: “This project
is hugely beneficial for both FIAT and the students of the Royal College of
Art. The students get to experience how a design proposal is put together,
harnessing their creativity, passion and vision to produce an exciting
concept that innovates and delights and but with an eye to practicality and
feasibility. FIAT, meanwhile, enjoys an influx of fresh ideas, creative
solutions and pure design talent, all of which are essential to keeping
FIAT at the forefront of design and technological innovation in the
future.”

Professor Dale Harrow, Head of Vehicle Design and Dean of the School of
Design, Royal College of Art, noted: “One of the benefits of studying
Vehicle Design at the RCA is that students have the opportunity to grapple
with real design challenges and see their ideas become part of the
solution. It’s great to have this relationship with FIAT, and to have
these iconic designers giving lectures here.”

The project also coincides with expansion of the “FIAT Likes
U” student car-sharing programme into a university outside of Italy
for the first time. Originally launched in 2012 by FIAT, with support from
the Italian Ministry of Education and Italian Ministry for the Environment,
“Fiat Likes U” offered some 280,000 students from the eight
universities a practical solution to their personal mobility problems by
making a fleet of eight FIAT vehicles available for use free of charge:
More than 6,000 students made approximately 28,000 trips totalling more
than 320,000 km, with more than 18,000 visits to the dedicated
“likesu.FIAT.it” website.

Encouraged by this success, FIAT has chosen to expand the project to
other universities in Italy and to open the initiative up to selected
universities across Europe beginning with the Royal College of Art in
London. Two vehicles, a FIAT 500 and FIAT Panda, will be available to the
students participating in the “Two of a Kind” project, allowing
them to immerse themselves in, and fully understand, the two great FIAT
icons they are endeavouring to re-interpret for the future.